Designers
Authentic and distinctive Finnish design is the backbone of Secto Design. Discover the talents behind it: Seppo Koho and Ilkka Kauppinen.
Architect Seppo Koho
”I truly enjoy turning sketches into wooden prototypes with my own hands. Finding a concrete solution to implementing a detail after persistent experimenting is a fascinating moment!” says the award-winning architect Seppo Koho, who has designed most lamps of the Secto Design collection.
Seppo koho has designed the majority of Secto Design lamps.
Architectonic touch
Secto Design has collaborated closely with Seppo Koho (b. 1967) since the company’s founding in 1995, initially on furniture and, from 2002 onwards, exclusively on lamps. A promising interior designer, freshly graduated from Helsinki University of Art and Design at the beginning of the collaboration, Koho later expanded his expertise by earning an architecture degree from Tampere University of Technology. Today, he is an internationally renowned lighting designer, operating his own design studio.
Koho’s architectonic touch is evident throughout the Secto Design lighting collection. He describes the lamps as illuminated spaces viewed from the outside, much like cosy houses radiating a warm glow on a dark evening. Versatile and timeless, the luminaires suit both public and private interiors, a sign of good design that has guided the company's philosophy early on.
Seppo Koho makes the first prototypes by hand.
Design philosophy
Seppo Koho not only designs the lamps but also makes the first prototypes by hand himself. He has always been interested in wood crafting and experimenting with the possibilities that wood as a material can bring. Making a wooden prototype of a new lamp solves many details in the design that a computer drawing cannot solve.
Seppo Koho’s aim is to make lamps that give a harmonious light without the blinding shine coming from visible lightbulbs. The light source is hidden in all the Secto Design lamps, whereas the light itself is visible in the fascinating patterns it makes on the walls and floor. The play of light and shadows together with the warmth of the birch wood give Seppo Koho’s minimalistic designs a poetic twist that intrigues people all around the world.
Designer Ilkka Kauppinen
The moment of discovery – when a hypothesis turns into genuine understanding – gives me great joy. Whether I’m proven right or wrong is not the point. What matters is understanding how things work,” says Ilkka Kauppinen, designer of the Adilo pendant lamp.
Adilo, a flat-packed pendant lamp, emerged through exploration and perseverance.
Insight through the process
The collaboration between Secto Design and Ilkka Kauppinen (b. 1988) builds on a shared respect for integrity, craftsmanship and experimentation. Trained first as a wood artisan in Joensuu and later as an industrial designer at LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts, Ilkka Kauppinen approaches each project with equal parts precision and curiosity. These roots in hands-on making continue to define his practice, where physical prototyping is not just a tool, but a mindset.
Having explored everything from urban farming to greenhouse technology, Kauppinen describes his career as one long experiment – one that has included missteps, small victories, and, ultimately, the Adilo pendant lamp, developed in partnership with Secto Design and launched in 2025.
Ilkka Kauppinen’s curious mind and openness guide his approach to design.
Shaped by curiosity
Ilkka Kauppinen’s design process begins with a hypothesis, which he tests through sketching, modelling, and above all, building. Prototypes are essential to uncovering how an object behaves in space, something that can’t be fully grasped through drawings or virtual renderings alone. The process often reveals surprising truths, challenging intuition and reshaping the original concept.
Central to his work is the use of wood, chosen for both its structural and aesthetic properties. In the Adilo lamp, the pale surface of the ultra-thin birch plywood softly reflects and diffuses light, shielding direct glare while allowing a warm glow to pass through. The result is an inviting atmosphere that suits both public and private settings – a testament to his belief in design that enlightens in multiple ways. “I want people to experience wonder and moments of insight. The world truly is wondrous”.
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